Well, technically, we met in middle school. We had a class together in the 7th grade. We all would make fun of cringy movies and complain about assignments. William did share a note with me and we could have started our love story that day, but, unfortunately, that isn't where our relationship began to bloom. A year or so passes and we are now in high school. We saw each other at the bus stops in the afternoon and the cafeteria for breakfast. We still complained about assignments, but there was more maturity. We had different goals and paths, so we never had another class together. But, he was always a friendly face to see and we picked up talking like we were friends back in middle school. We both had a lot going on separately between bullying, high school expectations, and toxic relationships. We were just friends, but grew into best friends fast. Even with different relationships and hardships, we remained in contact. We provided each other with someone to talk to and rely on without judgment. Many more years pass, and we are out of high school and into adulthood. Always in contact, playing video games, and there for each other. He became one of my most trusted and valued friends. There were a lot of awful relationships and he was always my pillar, my support. Eventually, I dug myself out of a dark place. And, like always, there he was. He has listened to me and helped me for 11-plus years now. We were best friends with so many happy memories, but terrified of the reality. I was so blind before and I wish I had known sooner. But, one night, after swimming with him and his family, we all decided we had to go get Waffle House. William and I road together in his Camaro. Everything was awkward, to say the least, but we agreed to listen to our feelings. William asked me to be his girlfriend in that Camero going over some railroad tracks at 10:27 pm on July 22nd, 2023. From the second that we agreed to become more than best friends, everything made sense. We treated each other with so much respect and we truly valued each other opinions. Everything I needed, he provided. Anything he needed, I was there. We were in shock to feel this overpowering happiness. I never thought I would become this lucky. I never imagined being this understood by someone. Now, we are getting married and we are building our life together! I normally don't resort to cringy, overused statements, but he genuinely is the love of my life and we had to be made for each other.

I didn't think of marriage; it had never occurred to me. I was too caught up in other things until I spent so much time with her. The idea of marriage was tossed around, and I later decided that she was who I wanted to spend my life with. I started looking for the perfect ring, and it took me a while. I had to find one that I fell in love with, and I knew that she would love it as well. So I had to sneakily save up money without her knowing, and purchase it. That's when I realized that there were several places and several dates that I was looking into. She is obsessed with numbers, and so I decided to pick October 24th of 2024, coincidentally, it just happened to also be her birthday. But she didn’t expect anything when I woke her up at 4:45 that morning to go sightseeing at some beautiful places. I had planned to propose to her at a secluded waterfall but the first stop on our trip was at the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise. As soon as the sun came over the skyline, I knew that in that moment of seeing everything in gold, just before the heat of the day started, that the only thing that could make her look more beautiful with her golden hair in that light was the rock hiding in my pocket. So, on the top of that mountain with the bright, warm sun blanketing the mountains, I asked her to be mine forever.